


I Am Hers, She Is Mine

by scoresandstars



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: (briefly) - Freeform, F/F, Pirate AU, There are probably going to be other characters I haven't introduced yet, prostitue au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-10-12 05:43:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20559194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scoresandstars/pseuds/scoresandstars
Summary: “If that’s the mother, where is the-” Emma stops her sentence suddenly when a figure rounds the top of the stairs, the woman who steps into Emma’s field of view making Emma’s breath stutter in her chest.She is the most beautiful girl Emma’s ever seen.She must’ve said that out loud, because Angie chuckles behind her, but Emma can’t bring herself to take her eyes off of this newcomer.Or: a Pirate AU





	1. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here she is! The Pirate/ Prostitute AU.
> 
> This work is rated Mature for possible future sexytimes, but that doesn't happen in this chapter. I'll warn you before they do 'cause I care about ya!
> 
> Please enjoy and comment below.

Emma Nolan had every intention of drinking away half her savings in the island tavern that evening.

Her crew spilled into the streets off the ship, already boisterous at the thought of the many pleasures the tavern provided. Only Dee Dee and Barry remained at her side, calmly surveying the townspeople as they passed them on their way to the heart of Jamaica.

The journey had been an arduous one. Six months at sea and Emma had nearly given up on finding the treasure Governor Hawkins had asked them to retrieve for him, when a hunch told her to backtrack and re-scour one of the West Indies islands for it. They had found it within two days of landing on St. Lucia, catching the people who had been hiding the scroll by surprise. Since they were so close to their home port of Jamaica, they decided to head back as soon as possible.

“This is where I leave you,” Emma said gruffly when they reached the street before the tavern, pulling her coat tighter around her as her eyes darted around. “I have to see a man about a horse.”

Dee Dee nodded and continued down the path to the tavern, and Barry pulled her into a swift hug, whispering “tell her we say hello!” so that no one would overhear him.

It wasn’t exactly a secret that Emma’s grandmother lived on the island, but Emma took every precaution once on land to hide her identity. Everyone knew Betsy Nolan had a granddaughter, but as long as Emma was on the island in her official capacity as First Mate, she had to make everyone believe she was a man.

It was an archaic custom, but it was still a law in the books that all pirate leadership positions must be held by men in order to do official business with any head of state. And since Hawkins was the governor of Jamaica and they conducted all official business through him, that meant that not a soul on the island, save Emma’s grandmother, could know that Emma was a woman.

This also meant that although Dee Dee was the captain of their ship, Barry conducted all official business on the island, and relayed everything back to Dee Dee with Emma’s help. The three pirates worked carefully together to avoid the pitfalls of the law.

Emma didn’t see why they needed to follow the old rules at all. They weren’t even pirates anymore, technically speaking, since their ship had received the coveted Letter of Marque from Hawkins just last year. That made their piracy legitimate in the eyes of the British crown, yet they were still treated as outcasts by the snobbier members of society, and sometimes the crew still took jobs that weren’t _ quite _ above board, if they paid well enough.

Their last treasure hunt had been off the books, in fact. Hawkins had requested a scroll of some kind that they eventually found in the library of a monastery at the base of the tallest mountain on St. Lucia Island. Emma didn’t exactly like stealing from monks, but Hawkins had promised the scroll would lead to great riches for all of them. They needed to keep the scroll safe until tomorrow morning, when they could all meet with Hawkins, and Emma just happened to know the safest place on the island.

“Gran?” she called out when she had reached her grandmother’s house and slipped inside, “it’s me.”

One slight squeak of the floorboards was all the warning Emma received before her grandmother was rounding the corner into the entryway, brandishing her pistol.

“I’m warning you, I- Oh Emma dear, how wonderful to see you. I didn’t recognize you in that smart coat.”

Chuckling, Emma wrapped her grandmother in a tight hug.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too, my darling girl. Although I think you return dirtier every time you visit. Come here.” Betsy grips the back of her granddaughter’s head and pulls it closer to her eyes to see in the low light. “You’ve got some dirt right on your chin, for heaven’s sake.” She raises a thumb to her mouth and wets it, bringing it down to Emma’s jawbone with a small, fierce swipe before Emma manages to squirm away.

“_Gran_,” she bemoans, “you know I have to be disguised here. It took me ages to get the stubble right.”

“Oh, so it’s stubble now? That’s a refreshing change.” Betsy snarks, grinning devilishly until Emma smiles back tiredly. “Why don’t you wash up while I get you something to eat.”

Emma thinks about protesting, but decides to humor her grandmother. “Yes Gran.” She agrees softly, trudging her way into the toilet. Grabbing a small towel she finds, she fills the washing bowl with water and pours soap into it to get it frothy, and strips out of her clothes. She quickly wipes her body off, careful to avoid her face, allowing her to leave her glasses on and so that her vaguely bearded disguise remains intact, and dries off just as swiftly, before putting her dirty clothing back on. The clothing doesn’t do much to hide her feminine curves, but the many layers at least help disguise her to the naked eye- unless one knew what to look for. She’s thankful that the general raggedness of her crew also serves to hide her in plain sight.

The only thing that could be considered opulent in Emma’s wardrobe would be the coat she now donned. Her grandmother was right, it was a smart coat- a dark emerald green with black velvet cuffs, golden trim, and shiny gold buttons.

She remembered the day she stole it vividly. Two months into their latest journey and Emma’s previous coat had torn beyond repair in a skirmish with another pirate crew who had aimed to steal any treasure aboard. Since they had recently begun their journey, they hadn’t had any treasure, so after an hour of confused fighting, each crew had gone on their way, no worse for the wear- save Emma’s poor coat.

When they docked next, she and Dee Dee had roamed surreptitiously through the town, keeping an eye for any misplaced articles of clothing they could snatch. It wasn’t until the end of the night, when they saw a ruddy-faced man take off his ornate hat and coat and toss them over a nearby post, to engage in a fight outside the bar he had clearly been a fixture in for several hours, that they swooped in. The hat was a bit too lavish for Emma’s taste, but Dee Dee immediately decided she had been needing a new captain’s hat anyway, and that was the end of that.

Emma gazed at her reflection in her grandmother’s looking glass, tucking her hair carefully into the plain tri-cornered hat adorning her head and walked outside to rejoin her grandmother in the kitchen.

“Gran, I have something of value. Can I hide it here until I can retrieve it in the morning?”

“Of course, darling, off you go.” Betsy waves a hand in Emma’s direction, not bothering to glance up from setting the table.

They had agreed long ago that Emma could use her grandmother’s house to store stolen goods overnight, as long as she didn’t tell Betsy where they were hidden, lest she be held accountable for her granddaughter’s thievery. 

Emma returned before long, pulling out a chair to join her grandmother at the table and scarfing down the plate of food set in front of her for her first hot meal in months.

“They don’t feed you enough on that ship.” Betsy says, half-frowning. 

“Gran, we’re out in the middle of the ocean,” Emma mumbles around a mouthful of turkey leg, “they feed us just fine, considerin’.”

“Don’t forget to chew your food, dear,” Betsy remarks mildly, shaking her head in affection. 

Emma just nods in agreement, moving on to shoveling greens into her mouth.

“So, Emma, did you have any exciting trysts while you were off adventuring?”

Emma, fork halfway to her mouth, began to choke on air. 

“You know, meet any locals, rescue any damsels, and the like?” Her grandmother asked again, eyes twinkling.

_"Gran_.”

Betsy cackles, wiping the edges of her eyes. “Alright, alright, eat your potatoes and you can escape my verbal jousting.”

Emma shakes her head, chuckling at her grandmother’s antics, and brings a speared potato half to her mouth, chewing on it thoughtfully.

Though she would never admit it to her grandmother, it had been a long time since she had felt the touch of another person in a sensual manner. The last had been the working girl down at the pub, Shelby, who had slept with her out of pity, over a year ago. At least, Emma thought it had been out of pity. The former buttery flavor of the potato turned bitter in her mouth, but she forced herself to finish the bite. Emma Nolan knew she loved women, but the problem her gender disguise presented was that she was too feminine as a man, and had yet to meet another woman, like her, who loved the fairer sex. She ate the rest of the potatoes on her plate at a normal pace, mulling it over in her head.

“I just worry about you, dear. I’m not going to be around forever, and my wish for you is to see you here, settled and happy, before I journey to the next world.”

Emma smiles warmly at Betsy. “Thanks, Gran. I just haven’t met the right woman for me yet.”

Betsy beams at her. “It will happen before you know it. And you can hold me to that promise. Don’t say I never gave you anything.” She winks at Emma.

Emma smiles and shakes her head at her grandmother’s antics. While she was slightly clairvoyant, her grandmother had repeated the same phrase after every prediction on Emma’s love life.

Standing up to clear her plate from the table, Emma stretched her arms out above her head. “Alright, Gran, I’m afraid I must be off to join the boys for a few drinks, or else they will send out a search party to find me.” She places her dirty plate in the wash bin.

“Have a good night, dear.” Betsy gestures to her cheek with a finger. Emma bends like a reed to kiss Betsy’s cheek with a cheerful _ smack_. “I’ll see you in the morning. Love you.”

“Love you too, Gran.” Emma says, waving until she rounds the corner to the front door, exiting softly out into the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Angie is cleaning a glass at the bar and Emma is nursing her second pint of ale when she spots the sour-faced woman standing protectively at the foot of the stairs.

“Who is that?” Emma leans in to ask Angie covertly.

Angie glances in the direction Emma’s eyebrows are pointing toward, and has to contain a laugh.

“That, my young friend, is Veronica Greene. A piece of work, if you ask me, but she runs a tight ship with the girls and work-related injuries have drastically decreased since she and her daughter started working here.”

Emma feels both her eyebrows raise. So the pub had a new Madame. It wasn’t often that they got new blood in the brothel, so Emma was surprised to learn of the presence of two new people in the crew’s most-frequented stop on the island.

“If that’s the mother, where is the-” Emma stops her sentence suddenly when a figure rounds the top of the stairs, the woman who steps into Emma’s field of view making Emma’s breath stutter in her chest.

She is the most beautiful girl Emma’s ever seen.

She must’ve said that out loud, because Angie chuckles behind her, but Emma can’t bring herself to take her eyes off of this newcomer.

She’s wearing a black silk bathrobe that is haphazardly tied with its matching belt, slinking down the steps as she goes, the man she had been entertaining upstairs following her like a lost pup to the entryway of the bar. He only pauses in his devout steps long enough to drop four or five coins into Mrs. Greene’s outstretched hand.

She has shoulder-length, brown, gloriously curly hair. Emma wants nothing more than to run her fingers through it. Until one shoulder of the woman’s robe slips off, exposing a whole new area of caramel skin that Emma needs to taste before she does anything else ever again, including breathe.

Before her brain can catch up to the rest of her body, Emma has put her drink down on the bar and stood up with a screech of her stool. The other woman’s eyes flicker over to latch on to hers. Emma sees her lips part from across the room, and suddenly has another thing she needs to taste.

Still not coherent of her own movements, Emma fishes two golden coins from her coin pouch and places them on the bar for Angie, not taking her eyes off the new girl for a moment, although the other woman had regrettably had to look away to say goodbye to her John. She allows him to kiss her cheek as a goodbye and her eyes dance back to Emma, who has been crossing the room, entranced.

“Goodbye, Georgio,” the brunette finally speaks, and Emma can feel her heart kick into high gear at the sound of her voice. “I’ll see you next week, same time and place.” She winks at him but her coy smile feels like it’s just for Emma, and Emma feels her traitor heart give a shudder. As soon as the brunette sees the front door shut firmly behind him, she flicks her eyes back to meet Emma’s, who had come to a standstill in front of her.

“Forgive me, I-” Emma breathes, “I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you are. I just… I simply had to meet you.” Emma holds out her hand, hoping that the girl will allow her this. The other woman places her hand in Emma’s, as she had hoped she would, and Emma brings the hand to her lips to kiss it, ever so gently. “My name is Ezra.”

She holds her breath, praying that her makeup disguise will hold for now.

“Ezra.” The other girl states. Her eyes rake over Emma’s body before rising to trace every angle of her face. “You may call me Alyssa.”

“_Alyssa!_” She suddenly feels the presence of Alyssa’s mother at her shoulder before she can see her. “Did you just give this young man your real name? What did we _ just _ go over this morning?” Mrs. Greene drags Alyssa away from Emma, clearly determined to lecture her, never mind the consequence of a potential suitor overhearing her.

Alyssa shifts her weight, growing more visibly uncomfortable as the silence drags on, unsure of what to do. She finally answers her mother, meekly, the confident Alyssa of one minute ago gone. “Men aren’t paying to sleep with _me_, they’re paying for the experience of sleeping with a stranger and going home to their wives.”

“Exactly.”

Emma had heard enough. She marches over to the pair with an edge to her step and a glint in her eye.

“How much for the whole night?”

“Ex-excuse me?” Veronica Greene blinks, aghast.

“How much. For. The Whole. Night.” Emma grits out between clenched teeth.

“More than you could afford.” Veronica says, before casting an appraising eye on the gold trim on Emma’s coat. “Well. Perhaps not. Twenty gold pieces.”

“Twenty?” Alyssa asks, incredulous, “that’s enough for every night this week!”

Her mother shoots her a glare that could cut through metal, but Emma just digs into her coin purse.

This was going to hurt.

“Very well.” She states, placing the handful of coins into Veronica’s outstretched hand. She tries not to wince. There went a quarter of her savings, but it was worth it just for this moment. “I’ll be seeing you every night this week, I suspect.” Emma takes a step toward Alyssa, holding out her hand, which Alyssa takes almost immediately once again. 

“I am eager to get to know the real you, Alyssa.” Emma says, pointedly within earshot of Alyssa’s mother.

Alyssa beams at her, and Emma would gladly give every coin in her pouch to keep that look on Alyssa’s face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alyssa pulls them into the third room on the left at the top of the stairs, shutting the door firmly behind them and turning the key in the lock. 

“There. Now no one can disturb us.”

“Disturb us… from what?” Emma asks hoarsely, swallowing.

Alyssa smirks. “I’ll let you figure that out. But first-“ 

Alyssa crosses to Emma, taking the other woman’s face in her hands and pressing their lips together fiercely. Emma gasps into the kiss, and their mouths slot together even closer than before.

Alyssa pulls away not long after, and Emma chases her lips, causing Alyssa to grin and her eyes to grow soft around the edges. 

“What, uh…. what?” Emma blinks in confusion. 

“That’s to thank you. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to rebel against my mother in even the slightest way, and you just let me do exactly that.”

Before she knows it, Emma has been corralled into Alyssa’s bed, sitting suddenly when the backs of her knees buckle on the edge of the mattress.

“If you’d like, I can continue thanking you in a way that’s fun for both of us.” Alyssa smirks, boldly placing a knee on either side of Emma’s legs. She reaches to take off Emma’s tri-cornered hat and immediately buries her hands in Emma’s newly-freed hair, and pulls the girl toward her mouth once more.

Emma gets lost in the kiss, hands coming up to clutch at Alyssa’s hips in fervent desperation, her mind empty of everything that is not _ hips _ , _ lips _ , _ Alyssa _, until she feels Alyssa’s hand slide from her hair, down her neck, and land just below her collarbone. Her brain finally catches up to her body, and remembers what Alyssa will discover if she goes any lower. She breaks the kiss regretfully to look at Alyssa’s face.

“Sorry, I… have something to tell you.” Emma starts cautiously. 

Alyssa’s eyes are hooded and her mouth is swollen, and she hasn’t taken her eyes off of Emma’s mouth since they stopped kissing. “Can it wait?” she asks, a touch impatient.

“No.” Emma states firmly. This shakes Alyssa out of whatever trance she had been in and she finally meets Emma’s eyes.

“What’s wrong? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Emma takes a stabilizing breath. “I just wanted to… make sure you knew what you were getting into.”

Alyssa frowns at her. “...Yeah? I mean. It’s pretty obvious that you’re a pirate. I’ve definitely slept with less moral people than yourself, though.”

The tips of Emma’s ears must ignite from how warm they become.

“Oh. Well, thank you. But that’s actually not what I meant.” She swallows once more, steeling herself. “My name isn’t Ezra.”

Alyssa smiles at her. “I figured. I don’t blame you, not giving out your real name to the local prostitute. It’s okay.”

“No I-” Emma cuts herself off, instead lowering her forehead to Alyssa’s shoulder and exhaling dramatically. “You’re sweet.” She takes a moment, inhaling the swirl of spices she could smell on Alyssa’s neck, before pulling back once more. “You smell like cinnamon.” 

Alyssa grins lopsidedly at her. “Alright, Romeo. What is it that you’re trying to say?”

“I am… not a man.” When Alyssa simply blinks at her, she barrells onward. “My name is Emma. I have to disguise myself when I’m here for… pirate reasons. I- I never meant to deceive you, and I’m sorry that I have.” She bows her head, gazing at Alyssa’s right kneecap to avoid the judgement she knows she’ll find in her eyes.

Except.

When Alyssa gently tilts her chin back up, she finds nothing but warmth swimming in them.

“I know.”

“You…. I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

Alyssa smiles at her indulgently. “I know you’re not a man. For starters, I could tell you were hiding something just by your mannerisms; adjusting your coat one too many times, doing perimeter checks every few minutes. Then secondly, your charming stubble is ever so slightly smudged right _ here _.” She swipes a thumb over a spot on Emma’s jaw, and Emma recalls her grandmother doing a similar motion earlier. She groans.

“Perfect.” she says, rolling her eyes at herself. Her smile lets Alyssa know there’s no animosity behind it, and Alyssa laughs. “Well, hopefully no one else noticed. Like your mother.” Emma’s face scrunches in distaste, and Alyssa laughs again.

“Oh trust me, had my mother even suspected, you would not be in my bed right now.”

Emma’s ears warm again.

“You’re very cute when you’re flushed, did you know that?” Alyssa inquires, eyes dancing jovially. “Do you want to get more comfortable? That jacket must be getting a little stifling.”

“You’re not wrong.” Emma acquiesces, pulling her coat off by the sleeves. She’s sitting on the tail of the coat, so she leaves it puddled on the bed for now, loathe to move Alyssa. Her arms wrap back around Alyssa’s waist snugly.

“Better?” Alyssa asks, and Emma nods. “Good. Now, as much as I love sitting on your lap and making you blush, would you like to lie down instead?” Emma nods again, letting go of Alyssa reluctantly.

When she stands, Emma picks up her discarded coat and lays it across the back of a lounging chair near Alyssa’s bed.

“Alyssa, do you have any charcoal I can use in the morning? I’d love to take this off.” She gestures broadly to her face.

“I do,” Alyssa nods, “there’s a cloth next to the washbin you can use on your face.”

“Thank you.” Emma walks across the room to the other side of the bed, and carefully begins wiping her face so she doesn’t get any soap in her eyes. She returns to the bed and settles down on the all-white linens, feeling cleaner than she has in months.

Emma nearly closes her eyes in the relief that comes from lying on a bed for the first time in months, but Alyssa clears her throat pointedly. “You are very beautiful, Emma.” Alyssa says, her voice a touch deeper than it had been earlier. Emma glances over and immediately breaks out in a sweat.

Alyssa has hiked the ends of her dressing robe up to reveal most of her leg, and the v of her neckline has deepened even further than before. Emma swallows, hard.

“See anything you like?” Alyssa practically purrs.

“God. _ Everything _.” Emma whispers, bringing her hand up in a trance-like state and caressing her jaw, her thumb catching on the corner of Alyssa’s mouth. Alyssa lets out a ragged gasp at the contact, eyes ablaze.

“But. Um. Is it okay if we just… talk?” Emma asks slowly, dropping her hand. “I feel a little odd about paying your mother for you to sleep with me. I wasn’t joking earlier when I said I wanted to get to know the real you, Alyssa. And… if we do sleep together, I don’t want you to do it out of obligation, I want you to do it because you _ want _ to sleep with me.” Emma meets Alyssa’s gaze with great trepidation.

“Trust me, me wanting to sleep with you is not an issue here.” Alyssa says, eyes dropping to Emma’s mouth briefly. “But I would never force you into something uncomfortable for you. Of course we can just talk.”

Alyssa adjusts her robe to be slightly more conservative, and scoots down the mattress in a manner so adorable that Emma’s insecurities fly out the window and she simply grins at Alyssa.

Alyssa grins back, turning on her side to face Emma. When their hands brush, both girls thread their fingers together as if they had been doing it for years.

“What would you like to know, Captain?” Alyssa smirks.

Emma laughs. “Definitely not the captain.” She reaches up to adjust her glasses. “Okay. What has been your greatest motivation so far in life?”

Alyssa runs her thumb over Emma’s, thoughtful. “I suppose I’d have to say… interconnectedness.” 

Emma nods seriously. “I’d have to say my biggest motivator up until this point would have to be… booty.”

Emma grins at Alyssa, wiggling her eyebrows. Alyssa takes her free hand and drags it down her face, agonizingly slow.

“You did not just make that joke.”

“Every pirate is contractually obligated to make that joke whenever possible. Our contracts say 1. Worship the sea as your goddess 2. Listen to your captain 3. Make as many ‘booty’ jokes as you can possibly manage.”

“If this is what getting to know you is going to be like, I’m having second thoughts.”

“Oh please. You think I’m charming, remember?” Emma moves her head closer to Alyssa’s.

“I also think you’re an idiot.” Alyssa breathes, moving closer as well.

“Oh yeah?” Emma says, mouth an inch from Alyssa’s.

“Yeah.” Alyssa states, stretching her neck to close the gap between them with a sound kiss to Emma’s lips.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When they grow too tired to talk, Emma buries her head into Alyssa’s neck, reveling in the feeling of the other girl’s arms coming around her, keeping her safe and snugly slotted to her body perfectly.

  
Emma sighs as she drifts off to sleep. _ I could get used to this, _ she thinks as the world dims around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The FBI agent tracking my computer must've had a field day with these google searches. "When were sinks invented", "when was the word 'booty' first used". You get the picture. ;)
> 
> So what do we think, fam? Is this a story you'd be interested in me continuing?
> 
> Let me know in the comments below! <3


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy. :)

Emma blinks into consciousness slowly, unwilling to leave the warm haven she had found in the middle of the night.

She knows it is still Alyssa’s bed that she finds herself in due to the level of comfort she has at the moment. The leg thrown over her hips and the arm gathering her tightly also clue her in.

Alyssa shifts slightly, and draws Emma tighter still, deliciously, to her chest. Emma has to fight down the groan that nearly comes out of her mouth when she feels Alyssa’s curves pressed against her back.

“Morning.” Alyssa husks against her shoulder, placing a kiss there. Emma can’t fight the full-body shiver that follows, so she embraces it instead and turns in Alyssa’s arms.

“Good morning,” Emma says while looking deeply into Alyssa’s eyes, her hand coming up to touch Alyssa’s cheek almost of its own accord. “Thought I might have been in a dream-state last night, but here you are; just as beautiful in the morning light as you were yesterday.”

Alyssa grins. “My my, aren’t you a wordsmith in the mornings.”

“I’m a wordsmith at any time of day, thank you _ very _ much.”

Alyssa just laughs and leans to press a kiss to the corner of Emma’s mouth.

“You missed.” Emma says with a cheeky, sleepy half-smile. 

Alyssa can feel the butterfly wings brushing against her insides at the sight of it. She grabs Emma’s shirt in two fistfuls, pulling her close and kissing her so fiercely that Emma looks like a brick has hit her in the head by the time they part.

“You. Uh. You definitely got me that time.” She blinks in Alyssa’s general direction, who can’t help the smile that nearly splits her face.

“When do you have to leave?” Alyssa asks, running a thumb along Emma’s bottom lip, eyes tracking its path hungrily.

Emma shudders, but dutifully turns to squint out Alyssa’a window and into the sunlight to gage the sun’s height. Everything is bathed in the gold that directly precedes a sunrise, and Emma groans, turning back to rest half on top of Alyssa, burying her face in Alyssa’s shoulder.

“Way. Too. Soon.” Emma mumbles into Alyssa’s skin, and Alyssa chuckles.

“I assumed.” Alyssa says lightly, raising the hand Emma isn’t on top of to scratch at the base of her head. 

Emma sighs contentedly. “I never want to leave this bed.”

Alyssa’s hand pauses briefly in Emma’s hair, before resuming its motion. 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Alyssa states, in a tone that is obviously aiming for- and missing- casual.

Emma pulls back to look into her eyes, but Alyssa studiously avoids her gaze.

“Hey,” Emma tries, Alyssa now tracing a shirt crease on Emma’s shoulder that occupies her full attention, “Alyssa.”

Alyssa’s brow furrows, but she doesn’t look up.

Emma frowns. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Alyssa shakes her head. “No, you didn’t. _ I’m _ sorry.” She sighs, closing her eyes. When she opens them again, she finally looks at Emma. She smiles wryly. “You never get used to people leaving in the morning.”

“I can understand that.” Emma says, nodding slowly. “You know I’m coming back, though, right?”

“Oh.” Alyssa starts, “I didn’t know if you were serious.”

“Oh,” Emma echoes, “let me be clear, then. I want to know you. And not just in the biblical sense.” Alyssa snorts at Emma’s smirk, and relaxes enough for Emma to continue.

“I want to know your favorite childhood memory, and what perfume you use, and how you like your tea in the mornings as opposed to how you like it in the early afternoons, and if you have a weird belly button.” At this, Alyssa lets out a boom of laughter, and Emma smiles so brightly in response the corners of her mouth ache. Emma reaches to tuck a strand of curls behind Alyssa’s ear, and Alyssa settles her previously-trapped hand on Emma’s hip. “I want to know everything about you.”

Alyssa huffs out a breath. “Keep saying things like that, Emma, and I won’t_ let _you leave my bed.” Emma’s responding grin slips right off at Alyssa’s eyeroll, but this time Alyssa surges forward and starts pressing kisses to her lips.

“What are you doing this afternoon?” Emma asks, abruptly breaking away from Alyssa’s mouth after a moment.

“What?” Alyssa responds, slightly kiss drunk.

“Spend the afternoon with me.” Emma shifts closer. “Let me take you away, just for the afternoon. We can start the night a little early, right? It’s not like anyone else will be with you this evening. I’m sure your mother will approve, especially since I gave her so much money.”

Alyssa’s mouth twists to the side. “I think you underestimate my mother. But… she will hopefully allow me one afternoon out with a “wealthy man” if she thinks this man might consider making me his mistress.” She lifts her eyebrows, heavy with implication.

“Ah, excellent.” Emma says, putting on an English aristocrat accent, “Why, if it so pleases you, madame, the young lady and I wish to visit the beach for a lively jaunt through the sand.”

Alyssa laughs. “My mother will think you’re just taking me somewhere to have your way with me in public.” She says, teasing the collar of Emma’s shirt with her fingertips.

“Oh no, how will my reputation ever recover.” Emma intones with a straight face, flinging a hand over her forehead dramatically. She reluctantly rolls over to the sound of Alyssa’s laughter to put on her glasses, and when she sees how high the sun has risen, swings herself out of bed and into her boots, standing to put her green coat on as well.

Once the coat is on, she turns to Alyssa, who sits up and points to a small desk in the corner of the room. “First drawer on the left.” Emma walks over and retrieves a piece of charcoal from the drawer.

“Thanks,” Emma turns, “Will you-” she cuts off her question at Alyssa’s nod.

“Of course. Come here.” Alyssa says, patting the spot in front of her on the bed.

Emma walks to her, handing over the charcoal and clamoring onto the bed in front of her. Alyssa makes to bring the charcoal to Emma’s chin, but Emma places a hand over Alyssa’s, stopping her efforts.

“Wait.” Emma breathes, cupping Alyssa’s jaw with her other hand. Her eyes flicker between Alyssa’s eyes and mouth. Alyssa leans forward, and that is all the permission Emma needs.

This kiss is more tender than any of the others they’ve shared, and they both sigh into it. Emma pulls Alyssa’s bottom lip between her teeth and Alyssa groans. They break the kiss simultaneously and rest against each other briefly. Alyssa finally pulls back, shaking her head, and begins to mask Emma’s face.

“What was that for?” Alyssa hums, blinking to focus her eyes on the makeup job she was doing.

“I won’t be able to kiss you with the charcoal on.” Emma explains, “And I just- had to kiss you again before I left.”

Alyssa is silent, but Emma an see her chewing over her answer, so she lets the silence lie until Alyssa is ready to break it.

“There.” She says, finishing up Emma’s facial hair. “Now, had I know that putting this on your face meant that you wouldn’t kiss me, I never would have agreed to it.” Alyssa smiles with an air of remorse that has Emma grinning once again.

“I’ll see you this afternoon, beautiful.” Emma lifts Alyssa’s hand to her mouth, kissing the back of it sweetly.

Alyssa tugs their joined hands to her and gives Emma’s a kiss of her own.

Emma shakes her head, still smiling. “You’re going to be the death of me, Alyssa Greene.” She breaks their hands and stands while she still has the willpower to do so. 

Scooping up her tri-cornered hat, she plants it on her head as she reaches the door, stopping to take one last look.

“See you later, Alyssa.”

Alyssa beams. “Bye, Emma.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Barry is waiting for her when she steps out of her grandmother’s house, leaning on a palm tree three houses down. He waits for her to walk up to him, and then moves into step with her.

“Have a good night, kid?” He asks with a smile that reveals he already knows the answer, “we’re cutting it a little close there, aren’t we?” He pulls out his pocket watch with another smile, not even bothering to check the time.

“Yeah, yeah, save it, Barry.” Emma says, pushing him on the shoulder with an easy smile. Barry chortles but doesn’t say anything else, biding his time. They walk in amiable silence for several blocks, deep into the heart of the city. They’re just one block away from the Governor’s mansion when Emma finally turns to him.

“She’s amazing, okay? I’ve never met anyone like her. She’s so funny and beautiful and I like her so _ much_-” 

“Woah, kid, try not to die of heat stroke in the middle of the street.” He laughs at his own joke, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. “I’m really happy for you. You deserve all the happiness in the world. Life hasn’t been what I would call “kind” to you.”

Emma beams down at the ground. “Thanks, Barry.”

“Of course, Em...zra.” Barry recovers, and Emma laughs. “We’re pirates. Our lives are rough, and sometimes too short, so we need to take our joy where we can find it, yeah?” At Emma’s nod, he nods his approval. 

“Alright let’s go meet with Hawkins. If I have to keep this love note from Dee Dee in my pocket for one more minute it’s going to burn a hole in it. And I _really_ like this coat.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hawkins paces back and forth in his office, clutching the scroll Emma provided him in his hand. Such hesitancy is unlike him, and Emma and Barry exchange several weighted glances.

Hawkins’ office is grand enough for his station, but you can tell the man doesn’t care for trivial things. Apart from the ornate chairs and desk- furniture no doubt provided with the office- there aren’t many lavish things in the room. There is a crystal decanter in the corner half-filled with an amber liquid. There is a medium-sized portrait of Hawkins hanging on the wall behind the desk, as is the tradition of every Governor before him. The chairs and desk are both gold, and the chairs have deep, blood red padding on them that alerts everyone in the vicinity just how powerful the man behind the desk really is. The desk is the definition of organized chaos, papers and notebooks laid out everywhere, and quills were strewn across the desk, out from their inkwells, a pool of ink dried on the paper beneath them. It looks to Emma as though Hawkins has been very busy lately.

The man himself finally sighs, runs a hand down his face, and turns to the pirates. “I’m making the decision here to trust both of you with this. I know you have the Letter of Marque and how hard you fought to get it, and that this would once again be asking you to ignore the influence of maritime law. But I believe this may be the most important discovery of our lifetimes.” Hawkins pauses, glancing between Emma and Barry. “What do either of you know about a man called Hernando Cortez?”

Emma’s brows furrow. “The Spanish conquistador?”

“The very same.” Hawkins nods.

“Well,” Barry begins apprehensively, “I know he conquered Cuba and Mexico for the Spanish crown, he was very charismatic, and that he’s been dead for two hundred years or so.”

“All true.” Hawkins scratches his goatee. “Did you know some Spanish aristocrats grew jealous of his success and accused him for stealing from the crown?” Emma and Barry shook their heads. “Did you know that after he cleared his name with the King, he sailed back to Mexico, and when he knew he was going to die, sailed back to Spain for one last meeting with the King, and that he died before he could make the return trip back to his new home in Mexico?” Both pirates shook their heads again.

“It is little-known knowledge because King Ferdinand wanted to keep it that way.” Hawkins sighs, sitting down in the throne-like chair on the other side of his desk. “Have either of you heard of the Feast of Cortez?”

“Yeah,” Emma nods, “That was where he had his men unload everything from his ships and had them set all the ships on fire, so they had to eat all the food they couldn’t carry with them the night they landed in Mexico, so that they’d be forced to move forward through Mexico if they wanted to survive, right?”

“That is what the legend would have you believe.” Hawkins says gently. “And while that is all true, that is not what the phrase ‘the Feast of Cortez’ actually refers to.”

Hawkins seems to be thinking, but Barry has never been one for patience. “You’re killing us with the suspense over here, Tom. What does it refer to?”

“Hmm? Oh.” Hawkins blinks out of his reverie. “Why, it refers to treasure, of course.”

When Emma and Barry merely stare at him, he continues. “When Cortez was sailing back to Spain on his final voyage, he stopped at a secluded island to hide all of the treasure he brought with him. His plan was to bring the King with him so that he could “feast his eyes” on the mound of treasure Cortez had procured for him, hence the name of the treasure, but Cortez died before he could tell another soul in Spain where he had hidden the treasure. 

The only other man who knew was his nephew, Felipe, who helped him carry and hide the treasure, but Felipe fell overboard and died before they could reach Spain. The only reason we know about the treasure today is because Felipe kept a journal, and on the final page, described the exact pitfalls he and his uncle set up to keep treasure hunters away until they came back. A map was drawn across the final two pages, underneath the writing, and this is what you have brought me today, Ezra.” Hawkins waves the scroll in front of Emma’s face.

“The missing page of Felipe Cortez’ journal, and your new job, should you choose to accept it. Finding the treasure and giving it to the Spanish government, and letting your crew and I split the reward money, 60/40 with you all getting the larger share.” Hawkins nods once, succinctly. “I know this is a major decision. I will give you the rest of the day to think it over and discuss with your crew. I know I am asking you to risk your Letter of Marque by not informing the British crown of this treasure, but I believe the Spaniards will make it worth our while.”

Hawkins places a journal on the desk in front of them and flips it to the last page. He then unfurls Emma’ scroll for them to see that yes, the two pages put together does make a map. 

“Memorize it, both of you, because once you have, I’m going to burn the first half of this map as soon as you leave so no one else can get their hands on it.” Hawkins affirms. “There are spies for the crown everywhere, and I shudder to think what would befall us if they discovered our plan. I think it’s better if you continue to keep the second half of the map with the notes, Ezra. You are the least likely to have it out of the three of us, and therefore it should be safer with you.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma strolled down the beach beside Alyssa, smiling as the other girl chattered away. Her mind was slightly preoccupied with the scroll rubbing against the skin of her stomach, but she was trying her hardest to listen to what Alyssa was saying. 

It had been surprisingly easy to convince Mrs. Greene to let Alyssa leave with her for the afternoon. All she needed was the hint from Emma that she had money, and she didn’t need to hear what came after that. Alyssa walked down the stairs in a beautiful lilac dress that rested _ just _high enough to not be considered scandalous. Emma had swallowed, only to find her throat had gone completely dry. 

“_This could be it, kid,_” she continuously hears Barry’s voice repeating in her head, “_after this job, we could all retire and live happy, normal lives._”

“Ezra._ Ezra._” 

Emma tunes back in to see Alyssa has stopped walking, standing concerned in front of her. 

“Oh. Sorry, Alyssa.” Emma brings a hand to rub sheepishly at the back of her neck. “I just have some things on my mind.”

“I gathered as much.” Alyssa says, eyes dancing with laughter. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I do.” Emma says, glancing around them. “But not here. We can talk when we get back to your room.” 

Alyssa nods and, with a smile, takes Emma’s hand in hers. Emma is so caught up in the delight of showing affection in public that she doesn’t realize for several minutes that Alyssa is walking them back the direction they started from. 

“Alyssa?”

Alyssa turns to her. “Yes dear?” She asks playfully. 

“Are you taking me back to your room?”

“That’s very perceptive of you, darling.” She says with a smile, voice caressing her words. “There are certain things that can be done in my room that can’t be done out here, do you follow?”

Emma nods dumbly. 

“Like talking about things openly.” Alyssa grins, knowing full well that Emma took her words to mean something else. 

“Oh. Uh. Yup.” Emma trails behind her, trying to bring her mind out of the sewers. 

Alyssa turns back to look at her, and laughs at the expression on her face. 

“Oh don’t worry. There will be plenty of what you’re thinking, too.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma has barely shut the door to Alyssa’s room before she is pushed flush against it by Alyssa’s incessant hips. 

“I thought- we- were going- to talk?” Emma manages between kisses.

“Are- you- complain- _ ah _\- complaining?” Alyssa answers, breath hitching halfway through her sentence.

“_Never._” Emma assures passionately. Alyssa smiles against her mouth.

“Good.” Alyssa places one last kiss on Emma’s lips, and takes a step back. “Can you help me get this off?” She asks, gesturing to her dress.

“Uh,” Emma states with all the confidence of a newborn giraffe, “sure?”

She figures out the knots at Alyssa’s back after a moment, only threatening to cut the dress off in bursts of impatience twice, leaving Alyssa in just her under-dress. Alyssa then turns to help Emma out of her hat, coat, and overshirt.

Alyssa leads her by the hand to her bed, pushing Emma down by the shoulders to sit on the edge. Emma takes her boots off silently as she watches Alyssa pour soap into her wash basin, stirring her hand to make bubbles appear. While Alyssa is dipping the cloth in the soapy water, Emma takes the scroll hidden at her waist and sticks it in one of her boots, moving them to where they will be an easy arm’s reach away when she lies down.

Alyssa walks over to Emma, who scoots back on the bed to give her room. Alyssa clambors onto Emma’s lap and begins to wipe the charcoal away from her face.

It has been several minutes since either girl has spoken, both unwilling to break the silence around them and its near-sacredness. The air surrounding them is heavy with unspoken words.

Alyssa wipes the last corner of Emma’s jaw and lets out a jagged breath. She leans her forehead against Emma’s and closes her eyes.

“Do you want to lie down?” Emma finally rasps, and Alyssa nods her head. Emma turns in the bed to lie Alyssa down on one side, and crawls to the other side of the mattress to lie down herself.

“I don’t understand,” Alyssa breathes, opening her eyes, “how I could possibly feel this close to you. I feel like I’ve known you my whole life.”

“I feel the same way.” Emma states, “I feel like I can tell you anything in the world. Which is crazy.”

“So crazy.” Alyssa agrees, closing the gap between their lips with a soft, sure kiss.

“Do you know what I wanted to tell you on the beach today?” Emma asks, waiting for the negative shake of Alyssa’s head. “There may be some long-lost treasure we’re searching for soon.” She laughs, “That’s what I wanted to say. Right there, in broad daylight, because I wanted to share everything that happened to me in the four hours since we’d seen each other.” Emma sighs helplessly. “I’m a complete fool around you. You make me feel as if I’ve never had an intelligent thought in my life, and at the same time like I’m the smartest person you’ve ever met.” She brings her hand up to stroke Alyssa’s cheek. 

“The four hours you were gone I felt like my skin was on fire.” Alyssa confesses. “I- I’ve never felt that way with a client before. I don’t know if it’s because you’re a woman, but I just wanted you back in my arms, I wanted to feel your hands on my skin, I-”

Emma cuts her off, surging into a kiss and pulling her close. The hand on Alyssa’s cheek slides to tangle in her hair and the other pulls her leg enough that Alyssa swings it over Emma’s legs. Emma’s hand slides to grip Alyssa’s thigh where it meets her ass. Alyssa groans and grinds down, just once. Emma’s breath hitches.

“Is- is this okay?” Alyssa pulls back slightly to check Emma’s expression.

“Is it okay!? _Fuck_, Alyssa, please don’t stop.”

Alyssa collides their mouths back together, bending Emma’s leg so that it frame her own hips together, to provide better leverage for her to grind down into.

They’re so concerned with kissing each other that they don’t hear the thunder of heavy boots stomping up the stairs.

“Ezra!” A voice distantly calls, but Emma is no longer coherent enough to know the voice is looking for her.

Until their door flings open.

“_EZRA_!” Barry’s frame takes up more of the door than it usually does. Alyssa squeals and moves away from Emma, and Emma blinks over to Barry.

“Barry? Is everything okay?” She finally asks, shaking her head to clear it.

“Get dressed, kid.” Barry orders, studiously staring at Alyssa’s ceiling.

“We’re clothed, Barry.” Emma starts to smile, but when Barry looks at her, the seriousness of his gaze stops any jokes she had planned.

“Then come with me.” His gaze slides from Emma to Alyssa, and back again. “Both of you.” 

He takes a deep breath, and the worry in his voice is clear. 

“Hawkins has been robbed. They took the first half of the map.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dunn dunn DUUUUUNNNNNN
> 
> I promise this will actually have a plot, that we're clearly getting to but I also wanted them to be soft af before all the drama starts. Buckle up, kids!
> 
> Kudos and comments are my life fuel. Thank you to those who left comments and kudos on the first chapter- you were my inspiration to churn this out even though my muse exited the building for like five days. Love to you all.
> 
> Next chapter: who the hell stole from Hawkins? What monster would do such a thing? And what does this mean for Emma and the gang?


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so it's definitely been... a hot minute since I updated this. Sorry about that. As atonement, this chapter is double what the last one was? :)
> 
> I'd like to dedicate this chapter first and foremost to by Beta/friend Katie who helped me get through this one, secondly to my discord wives Emma and Aimee, and finally to the discord as a whole for encouraging me when my motivation was lacking.
> 
> Also, peep the rating change, pals. This chapter is definitely NSFW and probably NSF kiddos. You've been warned. ;)
> 
> But also, VERY IMPORTANT: trigger warning for implied sexual assault of a minor. (Alyssa talks about her past) This can be unsettling and if you need to skip it, it is in the second to last section of the story.

Emma gingerly steps around the shards of crystal decanter scattered across Hawkins’ office floor, clutching Alyssa’s hand behind her. 

The office looks as though a hurricane had recently blown through it.

Hawkins sits in his office chair, hand clutching the back of his head, but he appears to be the only thing unbroken in his office. There are papers everywhere, and scorch marks where a candle had fallen onto the carpet beneath his desk.

Dee Dee whirls into the room behind them, pushing her way through Emma, Alyssa, and Barry to get to Hawkins.

“Oh _ Tom_,” she exhales, cradling his head in her hands. It’s a touch melodramatic, but Emma sees the real fear shining in Dee Dee’s eyes. Emma squeezes Alyssa’s hand, who squeezes her hand back. “I came as soon as I heard.”

“Dee Dee- _ ahem _\- Miss Allen- I’m fine, just going to have a nice bruise in the morning.” Hawkins says with a reassuring smile and a quick glance at Alyssa.

Dee Dee pulls back, affronted. “Oh, _ Miss Allen_, is it? We’re in the company of friends, surely you-” she waves around the room, but stop as her gaze wanders over Alyssa. “Who are _ you_?”

Alyssa swallows, but releases Emma’s hand to shake Dee Dee’s. Dee Dee looks at her hand with barely masked disdain, and doesn’t move to shake it, so Alyssa wrings her hands together instead. “I’m Alyssa Greene, ma’am.” she introduces.

“Greene, did you say?” Dee Dee asks, narrowing her eyes.

“Y-Yes ma’am.”

Dee Dee and Barry exchange a look.

“Are you the daughter of-”

“Veronica Greene?” Hawkins interrupts, “Yes, she is.”

Dee Dee snarls. “That no-good, bawdy, backstabbing-”

“British spy.” Barry finishes, looking sadly to Alyssa.

“My- what?” Alyssa blinks, “My mother is not a British spy. She may be many things, but I seriously doubt she could be wily enough for spycraft.” She dismisses with a short laugh.

Barry shifts his weight. Emma glances to him at the movement, and tilts her head, frowning.

“That’s why you had Alyssa come with me.” Emma says softly, “You just wanted to figure out if she was a spy, you didn’t care about me keeping my-” Emma glances at Alyssa, and bites down the word she was thinking. “You didn’t care that I would want to keep her safe.”

“Kid,” Barry begins, just as soft, “I’m just trying to be cautious. You’ve known this girl for how long and you’ve already told her-” he cuts himself off, glancing at Hawkins swiftly, “so much?”

“That’s my prerogative, Barry.” Emma says through clenched teeth, “I trust her.” She takes Alyssa’s hand again. Alyssa glances to her gratefully, and Emma’s gaze softens. 

“Okay what…. the fuck.” Dee Dee starts. “Just because you’re head-over-vagina for a pretty girl means she’s not a spy? That’s not how the world works, kid!”

“Head over… huh?” Hawkins puzzles softly, rubbing his forehead. He winces when he pulls the skin too tightly away from the nasty bruise starfishing across his head. Dee Dee gently pulls his head to her bosom, shushing him and patting his shoulder gingerly. He quiets immediately. Dee Dee moves her hand covertly to cover the ear not buried in her chest. 

“The point, _ Emma_,” Dee Dee hisses, “is that you may have been otherwise occupied and not noticed your girl here whispering secrets to her mother.”

A muscle works in Emma’s jaw, but Alyssa is the one to answer. 

“Look. I know you don’t know me, but believe me when I say I would never do anything to intentionally hurt Emma. I… care about her a great deal. And I would certainly not do anything to help my mother, not after everything she’s-” Alyssa cuts herself off, swallowing, but steels herself. “After everything she’s done to me. In fact, I can’t wait to get away from her.”

Barry shifts again. “Our source on the inside did say you seemed uninterested in the more nefarious activities taking place in the tavern. Maybe we should trust her, Dee Dee.”

Dee Dee rolls her eyes, but shoots a look at Alyssa. “Come here, girl.”

Alyssa walks forward, stepping right up to Dee Dee. Dee Dee puts a hand on either shoulder and examines her intensely, looking back and forth between her eyes. Alyssa swallows. Dee Dee’s eyes flit over to Emma, who looks ready to pull Alyssa away from her at any moment, and looks back to Barry, sighing,

“Very well. She can join our crew.”

Alyssa blinks, and Emma’s mouth drops. “She can… do what now?”

“Join our crew.” Dee Dee answers, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s where this was heading, right? You would have asked me eventually. I trust your- and Barry’s- judgement on this.”

“Thank you.” Alyssa breathes. Dee Dee nods approvingly to her.

“See? Someone with manners. I like her more than you two already.”

“_Hey, _” Emma exclaims at the same time Barry says “That’s fair.” Alyssa hides her smile in her hand.

“How about we discuss more important matters now.” Barry says, shaking his head fondly. Alyssa sinks back to stand shoulder to shoulder with Emma, once more lacing their fingers together.

“With this new development, I think we should leave by tomorrow morning.” Dee Dee purses her lips together. “Any strong objections?”

All three shake their heads, and Dee Dee nods, satisfied.

“Good. Emma, you help your… Alyssa pack a bag, and say your goodbyes. Barry, you ready the ship and crew, and tell Trent if he’s thought of any more sea shanties to keep them to himself until we’re out to sea. I want our departure to be as covert as possible. I’ll make sure Governor Hawkins here will be alright and meet up with you by mid-afternoon.” She glances around them to the doorway, where the moonlight is streaming through the windows. 

“It looks to be about midnight now, so you should have all day tomorrow to prepare. Say goodbye to your loved ones but do not tell them more than what is absolutely necessary.” The trio nods, and Dee Dee rolls her eyes once again. “What are you all standing around here for? You’re dismissed.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma and Alyssa walk through the town and back to the tavern in silence. Once they approach, Alyssa pulls Emma through the front door, gives a curt nod to her mother, and leads Emma up the staircase and into her room. 

They haven’t spoken a word to each other since they left Hawkins’ office, and they don’t start now. Alyssa helps Emma wipe the charcoal off, and Emma unties Alyssa’s corset. Alyssa lights a candle so that they can see each other in the enveloping darkness. They settle into bed facing each other and clasp hands. 

“I haven’t actually had a chance to ask you,” Emma starts, a wrinkle forming between her brows. 

Alyssa reaches up with her spare hand to smooth it away with her thumb. “Well the answer is yes.”

“I haven’t asked you anything yet.”

“You want to know if I’ll go with you, right?” Alyssa asks, and Emma nods. “My answer is still yes.”

“But… why?” Emma questions, incredulous. “You barely even know me.”

“That’s not true,” Alyssa says, drumming her fingers on Emma’s chest above her heart. Emma can hear the responding echo ringing in her ears, her heart straining itself toward Alyssa’s fingertips.”I know you very well. And if you’re offering, I’m saying yes. And that goes for anything else you’re willing to offer me. Yes.”

“I can think of a few things I can offer you.” Emma grins tiredly at her.

“Is that right?” Alyssa asks, scooting closer. 

“You want some treasure? I’ll get you some treasure.”

Alyssa laughs. “Oh, definitely. Heaps of treasure, or I walk. Anything else?”

“Hmmm,” Emma scrunches up her face in thought, eyes dancing. “How about a life of adventure?”

Alyssa taps a finger on her chin, lips pursing. “I suppose it’ll do. I suppose this is where you tell me you can never offer a roof over my head, though, so I’ll have to think about it.” 

Alyssa smiles teasingly, but Emma’s brow furrows once more. “Alyssa, I-“ she begins, swallowing. She suddenly looks so upset that Alyssa wants to take her teasing back, but Emma is determined to get her point out. 

“I may not be able to offer you four walls, Alyssa, or stability in our ever-changing lives, because that’s the reality of a life at sea. But I can promise I’ll try to always protect you and keep you safe. Every part of you.” She moves their joined hands to rest over her own heart. “I may not be able to give you a roof, Alyssa, but as long as you want it, I’d like to give you a home.”

Emma’s heart beats wildly underneath Alyssa’s palm, as if the beat can convince Alyssa she can trust it.

It does.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma stands before her grandmother’s door breathing slowly, in and out. She normally doesn’t become nervous when introducing her grandmother to her friends, but she supposes introducing her grandmother to Alyssa seemed weightier than with mere friends. Alyssa squeezes Emma’s hand in reassurance.

Emma raps her knuckles smartly against her grandmother’s door. 

“Coming!” She hears Betsy call from somewhere inside the house. The door swings open suddenly, and Betsy’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “You’re early.”

“I’m… early?” Emma asks, “you were expecting me?”

“Of course, my darling. Well, come in you two, don’t just stand there and let the whole neighborhood get a good look at you, in you get.”

Chuckling, Alyssa drags Emma into the house behind her.

“Hi, I’m Alyssa Greene. It’s nice to finally meet you, Emma has told me so much about you."

Emma glances over at her. She could have sworn she only mentioned her grandmother once to Alyssa. This girl was good.

Betsy beamed at Alyssa and enveloped her into a hug. She caught Emma’s eye over Alyssa’s shoulder and waggled her eyebrows at her granddaughter, who rolled her eyes good naturedly.

“So,” Betsy began with a touch too much naivety to be entirely innocent, “how did you two meet?”

Emma and Alyssa exchange glances, but Betsy speaks first. 

“Only joking, I don’t need to know the details. Now, what brings you here so early?”

“Well Gran,” Emma starts, “we’re leaving again.”

“So soon?” Best asks, surprise coloring her features. “You only just got here. Are you in trouble? Can I help?” 

Emma gathers her grandmother’s hands in her own, leaning in to peck her on the cheek. “Thank you Gran, but it isn’t necessary. We’ll leave by dawn at the latest.” 

Betsy glances from Emma to Alyssa, and back again. “We?”

“Yes gran, we.” Emma answers, sharing a soft smile with Alyssa. “Do you want to go into your drawing room and we can sit down?” 

From behind Betsy, a whistle starts to blow. 

“Ah, that’ll be the kettle.” Betsy hums. “Why don’t you girls make yourselves comfortable and I’ll be in momentarily with a spot of tea?”

Emma leads the way into the drawing room, and pulls Alyssa onto the loveseat next to her. The walls of the room are painted a light mint green, and the furniture is all white. Emma is grateful that Betsy was never one for tradition. Instead of the typical stuffy drawing room with uncomfortable chairs that no one wants to sit in, hers is instead warm, inviting, and pleasant to spend hours in. Her grandmother’s drawing room is one of Emma’s favorite places in the world. 

Alyssa sits next to her, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. Emma pulls her gaze from admiring the room with a familiar fondness and instead grasps Alyssa’s hand. 

“What’s wrong?” Emma questions softly. 

“I just, uh… have never done this part.” Alyssa answers, just as softly.

Emma’s smile crinkles the corner of her eyes. “You’re doing great so far, don’t worry.”

“Emma!” Betsy calls from the kitchen, “could you help me carry this in?”

“Sure Gran!” Emma responds. She looks back at Alyssa, gaze dropping to her lips. She leans in, almost unconsciously, and kisses Alyssa softly.

It’s by all means an extremely chaste kiss, but it still makes Alyssa’s insides turn to goop. “What was that for?” She questions, breathless.

“For being great at this,” Emma answers, “and having really kissable lips. Neither of which are my fault.”

Alyssa laughs, and pushes Emma’s shoulder in encouragement for her to get moving. Emma grins widely, stands, and leaves the room.

Betsy is placing biscuits on a plate, and doesn’t even glance at Emma when she walks in. “Nice of you to finally join me,” she teases.

Emma merely rolls her eyes and moves to grab the tea tray. “Need me to grab anything else before I leave?” she asks half-sarcastically.

“Oh no, dear, I’m sure you’ve grabbed enough things in the last three minutes.”

_ "Gran! _”

Betsy chortles and turns with the now full plate. “Well come on then, stop wasting precious daylight hours.”

Emma, with an eyeroll, takes the tray into the drawing room with Betsy hot on her heels.

“This is a beautiful drawing room, Mrs. Nolan.” Alyssa complements as soon as they round the corner.

“Thank you, dear, but if I hear you call me ‘Mrs. Nolan’ again I’ll have to perform a citizen’s arrest on you. Please call me Betsy.” Betsy states calmly, placing her biscuit plate next to Emma’s tray. Emma rolls her eyes again.

“She’s joking,” Emma reassures, “she can’t do that.” Emma passes a teacup to each woman, and pours them a cup of tea, doling out the requested amount of milk and sugar to go along with it.

“The hell I can’t!” Betsy snatches a biscuit from the plate after putting her cup down on the table beside her, pointing the cookie back and forth between them. “You know I’m an officer of the law in five different principalities in India!”

“Here we go,” Emma sighs, leaning back in the loveseat and into Alyssa’s side. Alyssa bites down her giggle.

“I don’t know how much my granddaughter here has told you,” Betsy begins with the air of someone who has told this story dozens of times, “But I myself was a pirate back in my day.”

“You were?” Alyssa exclaims, sitting forward on the loveseat with interest. Grumbling, Emma joins her at the edge of the cushions, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Why of course I was, dear.” Betsy says, a twinkle in her eye. “I had many grand adventures before I retired.”

“I’ve never heard of a pirate retiring before.” Alyssa says, smiling. Emma groans next to her.

“I really wish you hadn’t said that.” She bemoans, burying her face into Alyssa’s shoulder blade. 

“So, I suppose you’ve never heard of the great Ching Shih of China!” Betsy grabs another biscuit, this time brandishing it like a sword. Upon Alyssa’s head shake, she clears her throat.

“Ching Shih was a Chinese pirate who took over her husband’s pirate fleet when he died to command 60,000 men.” Betsy leans forward, jabbing with the biscuit-sword. “She was the most fearsome pirate who ever lived! And the most successful- she reached an agreement with the government where she accepted retirement and got to keep all of her looted gold.” Betsy finally sits back in the chair, and her eyes are misty this time. “She’s my hero.” 

She looks at Alyssa and smiles. “She was also a prostitute who escaped to the seas, and eventually commanded them so fiercely that no one ever thought to command _ her _ ever again.”

Alyssa blinks in surprise. “She… wow. And how many men did she command?”

“60,000.” Betsy says, beaming. “Just think of what we women can do when the right man in our life dies.” She chortles at her own joke and Alyssa joins her. Emma kisses her shoulder.

Pretending she doesn’t see this, Betsy polishes off the biscuit she’s holding, drains her tea, and stands.

“Alright,” she declares, clapping her hands together, “I have something for you, Emma.”

“Gran, you don’t have to-” Emma tries to protest, but Betsy is already wheeling around the corner. “And, she’s gone. Alone at last.” She jokes, grinning gamely at Alyssa, who doesn’t seem to be buying what she’s selling.

“Oh trust me,” Alyssa says, eyes dropping to trace Emma’s lips, then to her collarbone, then to her hands, before meeting her eyes again, “If we were alone right now I’d be able to finally do the things I’ve been wanting to do to you for three days.” There is no small amount of heat behind her gaze.

Emma gulps. Her eyes drop to Alyssa’s lips.

“I’m about to walk back in, girls!” Betsy calls from the hallway.

Alyssa laughs at Emma’s exasperated huff. Both girls set their teacups down on the coffee table.

“We weren’t doing anything, Gran.” Emma defends, but Betsy taps the side of her head knowingly. 

“I wasn’t born yesterday, young lady. She might not be as sharp as she used to be but she knows a real thing when she sees it.” She smiles at them genuinely before the corners of her mouth start to curl upwards in a smirk. “I’m frankly surprised you’re not shoving your tongues down each other’s throats as we speak.”

“Gran!” Emma sputters, and Alyssa can’t contain her laughter beside her.

“Alright now,” Betsy strolls across the room and settles back into the chair she had been occupying. “Hold out your hand, Emma.”

Confused, Emma does so. Into her open, extended palm, she feels the slink of a thin metal chain.

“A necklace?” She asks, bringing her hand closer to her eyeline for herself and Alyssa to examine it.

“Not just any necklace,” Betsy beams, “look closer at the pendant.”

Emma studies the pendant in her palm closely, examining each marking and number closely. “Is this a coin?”

Betsy beams. “It is indeed. It’s actually one piece from my first original treasure haul that I kept for myself. I kept it with me for every journey at sea, and it never failed to keep me safe. That’s why I want you to have it. To help keep you safe.”

“Gran, thank you. Just one question, though. Why give this to me now? Why not on any of my previous journeys?”

Betsy smiles. “Well if everything goes according to plan, this will be your last run before your own retirement, right? I wanted to give you some extra luck. And this way you’ll know I’m always with you. Just don’t spend it until you have to, you hear?” She asks, winking. 

“You’re the best, Gran.” Emma says, throwing her arms around Betsy. “I’ll keep it with me always.”

“And?” Betsy asks teasingly. 

“And not spend it until I have to.” Emma answers with a laugh. 

“That’s my girl. I love you, Emma.”

“I love you too, Gran.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time Emma and Alyssa leave Betsy’s house, the daylight hours are waning fast. They stroll into the tavern side by side, and sit down at the counter, ordering food from Angie. She winks at Emma and whirls away to give the order to their kitchen. Someone slips into the seat next to Emma, and the fine hairs on her arm stand upright. 

“Hey, Ezra, Alyssa.”

Emma and Alyssa turn to see the newcomer, and Shelby Gonzalez smirks back at them. 

“Hey Shelby.” Alyssa greets with a smile. 

“Hey, Shelby.” Emma smirks. “Good to see you again.”

“Again?” Alyssa asks, glancing between them in confusion. “Do you two know each other?” 

Emma suddenly looks apprehensive. “It was long before you and I met.”

Alyssa’s eyes narrow. “_What _ was long before we met?”

Emma gulps, but Shelby saves her from answering by changing the subject. She runs her fingertips across the collar to Emma’s coat and smirks at her.

“That a new coat? It’s nice. I figured you’d need a new one after you left your last one on my floor a few months ago.”

Emma blushes to the tips of her ears, but grins in response. “You expected me to wear that again? After what you did to those buttons?” She is so engaged in their back and forth that she misses Alyssa’s stony look entirely. 

“Fair enough.” Shelby says through a smirk. “Although I’d definitely say you enjoyed yourself, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hi, quick question: what the fuck?” Alyssa interjects before Emma can retort. She places a heavy hand on the back of Emma’s chair. Shelby glances from the hand to Alyssa’s thinned lips, and holds up her hands in defense. 

“Oh sorry Lys. I was only teasing. You know I’m a taken woman.”

Alyssa sighs and takes a long pull of the drink Angie sets in front of her. It’s tart in her mouth, and she struggles to swallow it. 

“We slept together,” Emma explains to her cautiously, “last time I was on the island.” 

“I gathered that, believe it or not,” Alyssa answers, a twinkle back in her eye. Emma sighs, relieved. 

“Order up!” Angie interrupts, like a messenger angel sent to deliver them from awkwardness. She places two heaping plates in front of Emma and Alyssa and refills Alyssa’s drink. 

“I hear you girls got a big adventure coming up,” Angie whispers conspiratorially, “I just wanted to say good luck and that we’ll miss you.”

Emma has no idea how Angie knows she’s a woman, or anything involving their travels, or that Alyssa is coming with them, but she doesn’t question it. Angie seems to know everything.

“Thanks, Angie,” she says, “That’s sweet of you to say. We’ll miss you too.”

Shelby, no longer interested in them, is scanning the room, studiously avoiding the hawk-eyed gaze of Mrs. Greene. She finally spots who she’s looking for, and the smile on her face catches Emma off guard. 

Especially when the receiver of that smile turns out to be another woman. 

Huh. Perhaps Shelby hadn’t been faking it when they were together. 

“Hi, baby.” the woman greets as soon as she’s within distance. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Kaylee.” Shelby replies, a hand sliding between her dress and coat so that she can trace covert patterns across Kaylee’s back.

“Be careful, you two. She’s looking this way.” Alyssa warns. 

Emma glances around the pair and sees Mrs. Greene glaring, mouth twisted in displeasure. 

“Well she won’t be able to lord over us much longer.” Kaylee says with an air of earned confidence. Alyssa’s eyes widen. 

“You’ve almost saved enough?” She asks, and both girls nod. 

“Yeah. We’re almost free of this hellhole.” Shelby responds with a confident grin. 

“Shelby and Kaylee are like us,” Alyssa leans to whisper in Emma’s ear. Emma can’t suppress the full-body shiver that follows. “They just want to be free, and be with each other. No rules. No mother watching their every move.”

“Ah, so they’re your sisters.” Emma nods knowingly. Alyssa smiles. 

“I know you’re joking, but they may as well be my sisters.” Alyssa looks to the pair who are trading secrets in each other’s ears. “My mother has been particularly cruel to them since she found out.” She takes a breath before looking into Emma’s eyes. “Almost as cruel as she was when she found out about me.”

Emma takes Alyssa’s hand and grazes her thumb across it. Alyssa smiles up at her. “I’ll explain more later. Why don’t we eat?”

Emma nods her agreement, taking a large bite of the turkey carvings in front of her, contemplative. She’s finished another bite before she turns to Alyssa.

“What if we took them with us?” She says lowly, so that only Alyssa can hear. 

“What?” Alyssa responds, shocked. 

“I mean it. What if we take them with us?” Emma asks. 

“Why would you do that?” Alyssa asks, brows furrowing together. “What could you gain from having two more mouths to feed on the ship, especially two who don’t know how to sail?”

“Well they’re obviously important to you,” Emma begins, “so that means it’s important to me that they’re safe. Best way to assure that is if they get out of here.”

“I don’t understand you.” Alyssa states, a look of wonder taking over her face. “You’d do that for me?”

Emma nods and Alyssa grabs the right lapel of her coat. “If we were in my room I’d kiss you right now.”

Emma’s eyes darken. “Well then what the hell are we doing out here?”

Alyssa runs her tongue across the seam of her lips, and her eyes drop to Emma’s mouth. “Tempting. Let’s explain the plan to Shelby and Kaylee and see if they want to join us. And then I’m going to take you back to my room if I have to drag you myself.”

Emma gulps but dutifully leans forward to begin the explanation, her foot tapping against the chair in impatience. Alyssa rests her palm on Emma’s thigh. Emma begins to speak faster, eager to get the two girls on board with the plan-and eager to be done with polite conversation. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alyssa has Emma backed into a wall as soon as the door to her room is shut. 

Her mouth is hot on Emma’s neck, and Emma grasps a fistful of Alyssa’s hair in a desperate bid for any sort of tether to reality. 

“You’re mine,” Alyssa growls, working a hickey into Emma’s skin with ease. 

“Yours,” Emma gasps, “Yeah. Okay. Yours.”

The passion in Alyssa’s eyes has shifted from desperation to lust when she pulls back. 

“Do you mean that?”

“Yes,” Emma answers, the hand not buried in Alyssa’s hair valiantly trying to untie her dress, “if you’ll have me. I just- I just want you.”

Alyssa bites her lip. “Emma, take off my dress.”

Emma gulps. “I thought we were, ah, waiting until we got out of this… environment?” She questions, but her hands betray her by falling to Alyssa’s hips and pulling her in closer.

“Emma,” Alyssa says, sighing at the contact, “I love that you’re so noble, but I swear to _ God _ if you don’t fuck me right now-”

Emma decides she needs no further convincing, and spins Alyssa so that she can attack the ribbon that closes her dress. The heavy material falls to the floor and Alyssa spins back as Emma takes her hat off and tosses it next to her side of the bed. Alyssa helps her work her coat off, which she tosses over the arm of the satee at the foot of Alyssa’s bed. 

“C’mon, you.” Alyssa says, grabbing her hand. She toes off her own shoes before sitting Emma on the bed and yanking the boots off the other girl. The left boot is suctioned so tightly to her leg due to the map stuffed inside it that it takes effort from both women to pop it off, and the resulting sound sends them into peals of laughter. Alyssa reaches to untie the thin ribbon keeping her stay in place, and Emma’s laughter dies with a choke. 

“You know, if you were trying to kill me, you’re succeeding.” She gulps as Alyssa slowly pulls her stay off her shoulders.

“Emma?” Alyssa says, “stop talking now.”

“Yes ma’am.” Emma mimes locking her mouth with a key and throwing it to the side, and Alyssa rolls her eyes fondly.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Aww. I think you’re cute too.”

“You-” Alyssa scrunches a grinning Emma’s cheeks together with one hand. “I can think of much better uses for your mouth right now.”

Alyssa lets her stay drop to the ground, and Emma doesn’t remember any words after that.

Alyssa’s not wearing anything else.

Her own shirt is up over her head before she realizes Alyssa’s even moved, and she smiles once she registers what she’s done. Alyssa smiles back. Emma stands and takes Alyssa’s face in her hands, kissing her passionately. Her hands fall to her own waistline, undoing her belt and tugging her pants and underwear down. She takes a step back toward the bed, and the material around her ankles trips her backwards to land on the bed.

Alyssa bends over in hysterical laughter, and Emma joins her. She finishes pulling everything off and uses the hem of her pants to wipe her face of most of the charcoal as Alyssa wipes her eyes.

“You know Emma, I have slept with a lot of people, but that was a first.”

Emma chuckles, then lets a smirk grow on her face. “Any other firsts you’d like me to provide for you tonight?” 

Alyssa sends her a look through hooded eyes, and climbs into the bed and on top of Emma’s lap.

“You are still- wearing- too many-clothes.” Alyssa mumbles against her lips between kisses. Emma lets out a breathy laugh. 

“I.. I… uhh.” Emma starts. “I don’t know where to touch you first.”

Alyssa laughs. “Your brain isn’t working right now, is it?”

Emma simply shakes her head no, eyes not moving from Alyssa’s breasts. She laughs again.

“You can start there, you know.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Good plan.” Emma whispers, leaning forward to capture one of Alyssa’s nipples in her mouth as her hands wrap around Alyssa’s hips.

“Holy- _ fuck_.” Alyssa intones, threading a hand through Emma’s hair immediately.

Emma smiles around the nipple, trailing wet kisses across Alyssa’s chest to take the other one in her mouth. Her hands drop to grab Alyssa’s ass.

Keening, Alyssa arcs into her. “_Emma _,” she says threateningly. Emma bites down on the hardened nipple softly, and Alyssa moans.

Emma drags a hand over Alyssa’s upper thigh at an agonizingly slow pace and Alyssa pulls back slightly. Emma’s hand immediately stops its path.

“Alyssa?”

“You’re perfect,” Alyssa says, kissing her quickly, “I just need to-” her fingers find the hem of Emma’s undershirt, and she grins in triumph. With one sudden movement, the shirt has joined the rest of Emma’s clothes and they are both gloriously naked.

“Much better,” Alyssa smiles, slotting their mouths together once more. She starts grinding softly into the air above Emma’s hips, and Emma gets the picture. Her hand quickly finds Alyssa’s clit and starts making patterns onto it with her fingers.

“_Emma_,” Alyssa intones, her hand tangling in Emma’s hair again. “Fuck right there, Emma. A little harder.” Emma increases the pressure of her fingers against Alyssa’s clit and Alyssa moans into her ear. “Emma, I-” she stiffens suddenly, back arching. Emma presses her free hand into the small of Alyssa’s back to offer support, but doesn’t dare stop her movements until Alyssa loosens again.

“I…” Alyssa trails off once she’s regained her breath, “That has never happened to me before. No one’s ever made me come without something inside me before.”

“Would you like to come from something inside you, too?” Emma husks, and Alyssa lets out a string of curses.

“Good to know you’ll fit right in with the crew with that mouth on you,” Emma says, smirking as she lays Alyssa down on the bed. She kisses her firmly on the mouth and then trails scorching wet kisses down Alyssa’s body until she reaches the apex of her legs.

“Is this alright?” Emma checks, and Alyssa can do nothing but nod frantically. Emma smirks, placing a kiss on the inside of Alyssa’s thigh, leaving a small black smudge from the remnants of charcoal wiped from Emma’s chin, and Alyssa’s hips jolt.

“Looks like it is.” Emma says aloud to herself, still with a smirk splashed across her face.

“Em-” Alyssa begins, but Emma leans forward to swipe the tip of her tongue through Alyssa’s folds. Both women groan at the contact.

“Fuck you taste so good, Alyssa.” Emma says, licking her lips for emphasis before diving back in to begin rhythmically swiping her tongue through Alyssa’s lower lips.

Alyssa’s hips shift and try to escape, but Emma pins them down with an arm thrown across them. She reaches Alyssa’s clit and sucks on it lightly, and Alyssa sees stars.

When she comes back into her body, she realizes that Emma is circling her entrance with a finger and she nearly passes out. 

“Em, please,” she begs. Emma gives a sharp suck to her clit, and then buries two fingers into Alyssa.

“FUCK” Alyssa yells, hips chasing Emma’s fingers every time she pulls out only to thrust back in. Emma sucks steadily on Alyssa’s clit, and begins twisting her fingers on every thrust.

Alyssa begins a chant of “fuck, _fuck_, fuck, fuck-” and Emma’s eyes are smiling, even if the rest of her face is occupied.

Emma’s hand squeezes Alyssa’s hips, and one of Alyssa’s hands falls to entwine in hers. Emma starts hammering her fingers into Alyssa. She feels a pull on her hair, and then a tug, and she surfaces to see Alyssa crooking a finger to get her to move up. She does so, licking her lips, and offers a kiss to Alyssa, who happily obliges. Their tongues slide against each other, offering Alyssa a taste of herself, and both women groan once more.

“Can I?” Alyssa asks, and cups Emma suddenly.

“Yes,” Emma agrees with a choked yelp. She’s so turned on from touching Alyssa that she doubts it will take the other woman very long at all. She continues thrusting into Alyssa, this time lazily, while Alyssa thrusts into her, building her up quickly.

“Ugh, yes ‘Lys, right there,” Emma says, moving her thumb so that she can swipe at Alyssa’s clit with ease. Alyssa scrunches the baby hairs at the base of Emma’s neck so hard that it comes back crimped.

“Fuck, Emma, yes,” Alyssa moans, scissoring her fingers up into Emma, who moans and responds in kind. “You’re so wet for me, Emma.”

Emma had already observed Alyssa’s skin was hard to mark, so she relishes in working a hickey into the skin of her neck. Alyssa’s walls begin to flutter around her fingers.

“Fuck, Alyssa.” She mumbles into Alyssa’s neck, still twisting and hammering her fingers. The heat around her fingers flutters once, twice, and then clenches her in a death grip. Alyssa curls her fingers in her own release, and Emma’s release is quick to follow.

They lay panting against each other for a few minutes, sweaty and sticky and thoroughly sated. Emma pulls her fingers out first, leading to a remorseful look from Alyssa. She pops her fingers into her mouth, sucking, and Alyssa is quick to do the same. Emma’s eyes trace the movements like a lioness watching its prey.

“You ready to go again?” Alyssa asks, voice hoarse. Emma grins tiredly, but Alyssa’s not done speaking. “Because you taste fucking amazing, and I want it right from the source.”

Emma’s mouth drops open, and Alyssa uses her surprise to flip her over and sink down into her with a renewed passion.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After they’ve both been sated, at least temporarily, they lie on their sides, Emma wrapped tightly around the curve of Alyssa’s body and pressing kisses to every freckle she sees. 

“What is this from?” Alyssa asks, kissing the long, thin scar on Emma’s palm.

“Mishandling a fishing spear.” Emma rasps. Alyssa turns around in her arms. 

“Oh?”

“Yeah. It was not a fun day.”

“Doesn’t sounds like it,” Alyssa says, frowning sympathetically. 

“Well, what about you?” Emma asks, dipping to kiss the small, raised bump on Alyssa’s shoulder next to her clavicle. “What is that one from?” 

Alyssa smiles. “A passing horse kicked up a stone that struck me. I was… nine, I think.”

Alyssa turns her face into the hand that’s cupping it, kissing into the palm. “And this?” She mutters, kissing lower incrementally until she kisses Emma’s wrist, which had always been covered, up until an hour ago.

The brand is in the shape of a letter ** _P_**, and they both know why it’s there.

“I was ten.” Emma answers slowly, “they caught me running an errand for my old Captain. They were in the middle of it when Barry saw me. That’s why the tail is a little squiggly, do you see? He fought them off and saved me.” She swallows, eyes misty, and Alyssa kisses her softly. 

“Anyway, mine’s not that bad. You should see Barry’s.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that. No one should, but especially not a child.”

Emma tilts her head, frowning. “Please don’t tell me you know from experience.”

Alyssa grins wryly, and turns around again, moving her hair over one shoulder so Emma can see. 

There, an inch below the base of her neck, are the letters **_TD_**, branded on her skin.

Emma places a hand over them, covering them protectively, and leans her forehead against it. She tries not to cry.

“Terrence Demos.” Alyssa says, shuddering. “He was my first pimp. He branded all of us. My mother has one too. I can still hear that horrible, awful sound that iron made against my skin. I can still smell it in the air, and taste the blood from biting my tongue to keep from screaming. I was twelve.”

At this, Emma does start to cry. 

When she feels the first warm tear drip onto her skin, she rolls over to face her lover. “Hey, baby, it’s okay. I’m okay. It was a long time ago. It doesn’t hurt me anymore.”

Emma buries her face in Alyssa’s neck, and Alyssa strokes her hair softly.

“You were- you were _ twelve_?” Emma manages to crack out.

“Older than you.” Alyssa points out softly, lightly scratching at Emma’s scalp.

Emma pulls back. “But, that means…” she takes a shuttered breath, “you were twelve when you started being… sold to men?”

“Oh,” Alyssa blinks, “that. Well. Yes.”

This prompts a fresh wave of tears from Emma, and Alyssa draws her back into her arms.

“I am so, so sorry, love.” Emma whispers into her skin once the tears stop falling. Alyssa kisses her forehead.

“Emma,” Alyssa smiles, pulling back to look into her eyes, “you are one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. You’re the first person who’s looked at me…” she breaks off, sighing. “Looked at me like I was something other than a warm body to fuck.”

Emma’s gaze hardens. “I want to beat the shit out of everyone who’s ever made you feel that way, Alyssa, because you are-” she leans forward, placing a string of soft kisses across Alyssa’s cheek. “You are incredible. I hope I can be a small part of you realizing that.”

Alyssa bites her lip, pulling Emma forward into her mouth in a searing kiss. Emma’s thigh slips between Alyssa’s legs when she shifts and Alyssa groans into her mouth, grinding down.

“Do you think we have enough time for another round before we need to pack?” She breaks away from Emma’s mouth to ask breathlessly.

“We do if we’re not fucking cowards about it.”

Alyssa’s laughter echoes around the room, and Emma kisses her smile with one of her own.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A knock on the bedroom door startles Emma and Alyssa out of sleep. It’s the only warning they receive before Angie is bursting into their room in a panic.

“Get up you two, right now. Get your clothes on.”

“What’s happening?” Emma asks, already standing to tug her clothes on. She’s grateful they took a break to pack before falling into bed for a third time together, otherwise they would be out of luck. 

“Alyssa’s mom found out you have the other half of the map, Emma, and that you’re in on it, Alyssa. She alerted the authorities and they should be here any moment.”

“I- I can’t believe she would do that.” Alyssa says, tugging her own clothing on. She has opted for a pair of breeches and a shirt not unlike Emma’s, and pulls her own pair of boots on as swiftly as she can while Emma shrugs her coat on.

“Are there any other exits from this room?” Angie asks Alyssa, before tossing the hat she finds across the room. “Your hat, Emma.”

“Thanks, Angie, I- hang on. How do you know all of this?”

Angie points to herself. “Barry’s inside source. He’ll explain everything else. I sent a messenger up and they should be preparing to cast off, so get there as soon as you can, do you hear me?”

Both girls nod. “There’s a secret door into Kaylee’s room we can take, and climb out her window.”

Angie nods, looking around frantically. “You still have the map, Emma?” Emma pats her boot. “Good. Please be safe, girls.” Angie draws them both into a hug, and kisses Alyssa’s forehead swiftly. “I’ll check on your grandma in the morning, Emma, and I’ll keep an eye out for her.” Emma’s shoulders sink, relieved, and she whispers “Thanks, Angie” into her shoulder before releasing her to take Alyssa’s hand. “Yes, Angie, truly- thank you.” Alyssa echoes. “I hope we’ll see you soon.” 

Angie smiles at them, pushing them towards the wall separating Alyssa’s room from Kaylee’s, while she moves back to the main entrance to serve as a distraction.

“Help me with this.” Alyssa asks Emma. The two girls shift the bookcase leaning against Alyssa’s wall, where they find Kaylee and Shelby already standing with matching concerned expressions.

“What the hell is happening?” Kaylee demands, taking Alyssa’s free hand and pulling her into her own room.

“We heard shouting, and we were worried.” Shelby expands.

“We’re leaving,” Emma explains, “right now. I don’t know if you’ve decided to come with us, but you should. It’s not safe here for you, not with Mrs. Greene working with the government. And especially with you two being together, she has a vendetta against you, and with her connections in the government…”

Shelby glances at Kaylee, who is chewing on her bottom lip. Kaylee meets her glance.

“Where you go, I go, Kaylee.” Shelby says, raising her hand to cup Kaylee’s cheek. “But I want to have a life with you, and we can’t do that here.”

Kaylee leans in to rest her forehead against Shelby’s. “Okay. You’re right. Let’s do it.”

“Great.” Emma says, clapping her hands together. “Now I’m sorry to interrupt this moment, but we have to leave. Grab the money you have saved up- you can buy new things at the first port we stop at. I won’t put my crew in danger because we’re running late because you two couldn’t stop making heart eyes at each other long enough to get out.”

“We were not making heart eyes-” Shelby starts, but stops suddenly when there is a resounding creak from the staircase. She runs to the dresser and grabs a wad of bills, stuffing it into her corset. 

“Out the window, _now_.” Emma hisses, helping each girl out before climbing out herself, Alyssa’s leather bag strapped across her shoulders. “Quick, climb down the lattice.”

Once all four girls have reached the ground, they start off toward the docks at a pace just a hair too fast to be casual, hoping to make it appear as if they were simply in a hurry, but not desperate to get away. They’re a block away from the tavern when a cry of “STOP THEM!” bounces off the buildings around them. They take off in a sprint, Shelby and Kaylee hitching their skirts up over their thighs.

They tear through the town, running block after block, unable to rid the sound of thudding boots hitting the cobblestone road behind them in pursuit. The finally round the corner to see the ship bobbing at the far dock, waiting for them to board.

“HOIST THE ANCHOR!” Emma yells to the shadowy figure on deck illuminated by only the moonlight. The figure leaps into action, turning the wheel that raises the anchor with all his might. Roused by Emma’s cry as well as the racket caused by the noise of four people pounding across the wooden dock, a few members of the crew stand, ready to raise the gangplank as soon as they board. 

Emma leads the way, trying to fight the stitch in her side and lead them all to safety. They finally get to the gangplank as soon as a line of soldiers in British uniform arrives at the dock. Emma makes everyone go up ahead of her, listening to Dee Dee yell to their crew below decks “OARS! ROW, YOU SCALLYWAGS, AND PUT YOUR BACKS INTO IT!”

Satisfied the other three girls are on deck, Emma hops onto the gangway, tearing up the thin piece of wood towards escape. She doesn’t hear the British soldiers fire their first round of shots. There is a pain in her upper arm that she ignores, until she realizes she is lying face down on the gangway. She looks around, trying to piece together why she stopped running. She touches her arm and her fingers come back red.

“EMMA!” Alyssa screams, vaulting over the side of the ship and onto the gangway, heedless of the second round of bullets flying around her as she reaches Emma. 

“Is that you, ‘Lyssa?” Emma asks, words slurring together, “Think I mighta gott’n shot, ‘Lyssa.”

“You did, baby, but we have to get onto the deck, okay? Come on.” Alyssa says, already dragging the girl towards the deck. A second pair of hands is suddenly there to help, and with two people assisting, Emma stands up, and Alyssa manages to pull her onto the deck. 

She turns to the person to thank them, only to see Dee Dee turn, pull her gun out of her side holster, and return fire on the British. Barry immediately finishes pulling the gangplank, and the oars dip into the water for a fourth time, finally urging the ship forward towards the bay, and away from the British soldiers.

Before it has gotten too far, Alyssa glances back to the crowd of soldiers. There is an officer in the center of the group with a long, black, pointy mustache, and a snarl on his face that lets Alyssa know this will not be their last meeting. And standing next to the man with the mustache, silently weeping, is her mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. As a history major, I would be remiss not to tell you: yes, Ching Shih was a female pirate queen badass, and everything I included about her is true, except that she lived in the 1800s, and thus is an anachronism with our timeline. I'm hoping that because she's such a badass, you'll forgive me for needing to include her in my story about pirates. :)
> 
> So. Anyone have any thoughts? ;) <3


End file.
